Road-vehicle



NlTED STATES J OSEPII A. MCNEILL, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

ROAD-VEIHIC LE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 585,396, dated June 29, 1891?.

Application filed August 4, 1896. Serial No. 601,598. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH A. MONEILL, a

subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Road -Vehicles, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanyin g drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

In two-wheeled road-carts and similar vehicles, where the occupants get in and out at the side of the vehicle-body by a step at the rear, it is difficult and awkward to get in and out with ease and without brushing the clothes against the vehicle, and this difficulty is still greater in the case of top-vehicles of the kind alluded to. iVith the object therefore of obviating this difficulty I have invented the improvements hereinafter set forth, by means of which the seat and top are swung or rotated back out of the way and preferably to one side, so as to leave the way unobstructed for the person entering or leaving the vehicle to step up or down without danger of soiling the garments against the vehicle.

My invention also comprehends further improvements presently to be described.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrative of one form of my invention, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a road-cart embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on line 2 2, Fig. 1, showing the body in plan view. Fig. 3 is a plan View of the vehicle without any top and showing in dotted lines the seat swung back to enable a person to enter at the left-hand side. Fig. 4. is a rear end elevation of Fig. 3. Figs. 5 and 6 are details in plan and section, respectively, of the seat-retaining plates. Fig. 7 is a detail View of the improved spring.

I have herein shown my invention for the purposes of illustration as embodied in a twowheeled top road-cart and in which the wheels 0, body Z top 0, shafts d, side bars or platforms 6, secured thereto, adj usting-brace f for the shafts, steps 9, and mud-guards h may be of any desired style or arrangement. The

body I) is provided with a rear extension or.

support 1). (Shown as having top and bottom parallel plane surfaces.) The seat or seat-base m is also preferably rearwardly extended to correspond in shape to the support secured at either side by means of bolts m,

supported in perforated ears m fastened to the seat and removably engaging at their lower ends the perforated ears or sockets b on the body I), the bolts m being preferably spring-controlled by means of the springs m bearing between the upper ear m and an adjustable collar m handles m being provided to raise the bolts against the springs m When therefore it is desired to enter or leave the carriage by the left-hand step g, the handle m at that side of the seat is grasped and raised and the seat is swung around to the right into its dotted-line position, Fig. 3, on the right-hand bolt m as a pivot-center, and if it is desired to use the right-hand step the right-hand bolt m is accordingly raised and the left-hand bolt is used as a pivot, the seat being then swung around to the left. In the preferred embodiment of this feature of my invention the two bolts m are pivotally connected to operate together, so that both cannot be raised at once, a bar m centrally pivoted to a hanger of, being shown for that purpose, so that as one bolt is raised the other bolt cannot be raised, but will be lowered and thereby more firmly engaged with its socket o The latter is preferably beveled on its upper side, as shown in Fig. l, to enable the bolt to lock automatically on the return of the seat.

The seat is held down on its support I) by suitable means, as by the loop m secured rigidly at either end to the seat and passing beneath the support I) close against the under surface thereof and at the rear side of the sockets 12 Also an arc-shaped plate b is fixed on the upper side of the support Z7 and a complementary plate m is secured to the under side of the seat to cooperate therewith, the said plates being overlapped, as shown in Fig. 6, to render the pivotal action of the seat still more rigid and firm. A stop b extends from the rear end of the body extension 19, against which the adjacent end of the loop m strikes to limit further movement when the seat is swung back, the sockets b acting as stops to limit forward movement.

The extension I) and seat m are shown as curved rearwardl y at their sides concentric to the opposite pivots m, respectively, thereby not only providing ample bracing and supporting surface, but also uniform meeting edges on the near side as the seat is swung around for the entrance or exit of the occupant. The pivot or pivots may be located otherwise than as shown, and may be also varied in other respects, or the seat may have an altogether sliding movement. Preferably the opposing surfaces will be provided with wear-plates, as indicated at h, Fig. 2, and one or more antifriction-rollers "m maybe journaled in one of the parts to travel on the opposite wear-plate as the seat is swung back and forward.

In order that the seat with the top down may be moved laterally, as indicated in Fig. 3, I provide lateral rests 11-, Figs. 1 and 4, to prevent the top from being lowered to the usual extent, so that it will not interfere with the mud-guards h when swung around over the latter.

A further improvement resides in the front springs, each of which comprises an upper spring 0 and an under spring 0, connected together at their free ends to the hanger or stirrup 0 by suitable links 0 0 and supporting the front of the body by means of the said hanger or stirrup 0 the latter preferably overhanging at its free ends the side bars 6. The link 0 is preferably angular, as shown in Fig. '7, thereby giving an easy roll ing movement to any backward impulse of the body. These springs give a balanced support to the body, so that the shifting of the weight of the top and seat does not tend to unduly tip up the front thereof.

Many changes in form, arrangement, and combination of parts may be resortedto with out departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A vehicle, having a seat pivoted to swing in a horizontal plane laterally and to the rear, and interchangeable fulcra therefor, whereby said swinging movement may occur in the direction of either side, substantially as described.

2. A vehicle-body, a seat movably mounted thereon, a socket in one, a movable bolt and bearings therefor in the other, and means to operate said bolt, said seat being free to swing about said bolt as a pivot, substantially as described.

3. A Vehicle-body, a seat movably mounted thereon, cooperating sockets and movable bolts carried thereby, a bolt and its socket being located on each side of the vehicle, and means connecting said two bolts to prevent both bolts being raised together, substantially as described.-

4. The combination with a vehicle-body, having a rear extension, of a seat movably supported thereon, said seat being movable to the rear at either of its ends, and holding means embracing said rear extension at each side thereof to maintain the seat at all times in operative position onsaid extension, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a vehicle-body, having a rear extension, of a seat pivoted thereon, interchangeable fulcra therefor adjacent the ends of the seat, holding means embracing said rear extension at each side thereof to maintain the seat at all times in operative position on the extension, and a stop to cooperate with said holding means, substantially as described.

6. The combination with a vehicle-body, having a rear extension, of a seat movably supported thereon, a pivot for said seat, a track on one concentric with said pivot, and a roller on the other to run on said track, and holding means embracing said rear extension to maintain the seat at all times-in operative position thereon, substantially as described.

7. The combination with a vehicle-body, of aseat supported thereon to swing in a horizontal plane, a pivot therefor, and two areshaped interlocking plates, one fastened on said body and the other fastened on said seat, and concentric to said pivot, said body-plate overlapping at its edge the edge of said seatplate, substantially as described.

8. In avehicle, a spring comprising two oppositely-curved members adapted to be fixedly secured to the side bars of the vehicle at one end, a link connecting the opposite or free ends thereof, and a stirrup connecting said free ends to the vehicle-body, the projecting ends of said stirrup extending over said side bars, substantially as described.

' 9. The combination with a folding vehicletop, of laterally-extended rests therefor, located above the pivots of the bow-supports thereof, whereby the rear end of the folded top is held inclined upwardly, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH A. MCNEILL.

Witnesses:

GEo. H. MAXWELL, GEo. W. GREGORY.

IIO 

